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ComparingVO2max,BodyFatPercentage,MuscularStrengthand

MuscularEnduranceinFirefightersandRecreationallyActiveMen

JasmineAllan,CaitlinNewman,SarahViolante,RachelSchulte,DavidVizcarra,Garrett
Bruhn
CaliforniaStateUniversitySanMarcos

ABSTRACT

Background:Firefightersonaverage,workatmaximallevelsofexertion.Thistypeofwork
requiresadequateaerobiccapacity,whichisthemaximumoxygenconsumptionVO2max
(Peateetal,2002).Firefightersrelyontheirstrengthandpowerinordertomaximizefor
suppressionactivities.Duetothestrenuoustasksthatfirefightersendureonadailybasis,
theyrequirehighlevelsofaerobicfitness,muscularstrength,andlowerpercentageofbody
fatinordertoperformtasks.Aim:Theaimofthestudyistocomparethedifferencesin
fitnesslevelsbetweenfirefightersandactivemen,bymeasuringVO2max,muscularstrength,
muscularendurance,andbodyfatpercentage.Method:Fiveactivemales,withameanage
of20.22.05andfivemalefirefighters,withameanageof25.41.52completedatotalof
fourtestswhichassessbodyfatpercentage,VO2max,muscularstrength,andmuscular
endurance.Skinfoldcallipersweremeasuredatthreesitestoassessbodyfatpercentage.A
1.5mileruntestaroundatrackwasusedtoassessVO2max.TheBiodexmeasuredknee
flexionandextensionpeaktorquetoassessmuscularstrength.Pushupswereperformedto
fatiguetoassessmuscularendurance.Results:Firefightersdemonstratedasignificantly
higherVO2max55.402.19ml/kg/mincomparedtothenonfirefighters47.405.51
ml/kg/min.Firefightersalsoshowedslightlyhighermuscleforceandmuscleendurance,
thoughthedifferencewasnotsignificant.Themeanbodyfatpercentageofbothgroupswere
thesameat11.72%,thoughfirefightershadasmallerstandarddeviationof2.44%compared
tononfirefightersof8.15%.Conclusion:Themostapparentdifferencebetweenthegroups

wasVO2max,whichaccordingtopreviousstudiesisakeyattributeinordertomaintainthe
highdemandsofphysicallabor.Muscleenduranceapproachedsignificance,whilemuscle
forceandbodyfatpercentagedisplayednosignificantdifferencebetweenthegroups.

Keywords:VO2max,bodyfatpercentage,muscularstrength,isokineticdynamometry,
muscularendurance

INTRODUCTION
Firefightingisastrenuousoccupationandcreatesphysicalstrainonthebody.Along
withseveraloccupations,physicalworkcapacityisimportantforoptimalworkperformance.
Workcapacityisdefinedasphysiologicalcapacitiesinrelationtojobrequirements,which
includesmeasurementsofmuscularstrengthandaerobicpower(Lindbergetal,2014),which
arevariablesthathavearelationshipinperformingmuscularendurancetasks(Calavalleetal,
2013).Thejobrequiresindividualstobecompetentinaerobicandanaerobicpowerand
capacity,musclestrength,andhaveanappropriatebodycomposition.Firefightersrelyon
theirstrengthandpowerinordertomaximizefirefightingsuppressionactivities.Theyare
constantlyfacedwithphysicalstrain,includingcarryingheavyequipment,lossofbodywater
duetohottemperatures,emotionalstress,useofprotectivegear,andharshenvironments
(Lindbergetal,2014).Duetothesetasksbeingsodemandingonthebody,firefighters
requirehighlevelsofaerobicfitness,muscularenduranceandmuscularstrengthinorderto
performoptimallyunderextremeconditions.Althoughthisisrelativelyknown,therehasnot
beenmuchresearchonthecomparisonofvariousfitnessattributesoffirefightersandthe
average,activemale.Itisimportanttofurtherthisresearchinordertoidentifyspecificfitness
testsandtrainingneedsforfirefighters(Rheaetal,2004).

Themaximaluptakeofoxygen(VO2max)bythemitochondriadetermineshowwell
musclesuseandtransportoxygenduringexercise.AccordingtoAstorinoetal(2009),
VO2maxtestingcanbeusedonhealthyandactiveindividualstoindicatehealthstatusand
riskofmortalityandisconsideredoneofthemostimportantindicatorsofendurancecapacity
(Rosenbergeretal,2011).HigherVO2maxallowsthehearttopumpbloodthroughoutthe
bodymoreefficientlyandmaintaincardiacoutputathigherintensitiesforlongerdurations.
Thisiscrucialforfirefightersbecausetheyneedtobeatpeakphysicalconditioninorderto
enduretheamountofstressthatisplacedonthebodyforlongdurationsatatimethroughout
theircareer.RecommendationsforVO2maxforfirefighteris33.542.0mL/kg/min(Sothmann
etal.,1992),withaVO2maxbelow33.5presentingalackofoxygenintaketomaintain
firefightingtasksforlongerthanafewminutes.
Bodyfatpercentagecanbeusedasahealthassessmenttomeasureriskfordisease
anddeterminewhetheranindividualisobeseornot.Itisimportantforindividuals,activeand
nonactive,tobeawareoftheirbodyfatpercentage,especiallyintheabdominalarea.
VisceralfathasbeenlinkedtomultiplechronicdiseasessuchasCOPDandcardiovascular
disease.InconnectionwithestimatingVO2max,apaststudybyDelislieetal,(2014)
discoveredthatfirefighterswithalowerbodyfatpercentagereachedlowermeasuresof
VO2maxthanthosewithmorebodyfat.Althoughexcessfatcanbuildupandcauseobesity
inmost,firefightersneedsomeexcessfatinordertomaintainlongworkhourswearingand
carryingheavyequipment.
Muscularstrengthandendurancehavebeencorrelatedwithfirefighterswork
capacity.Afirefighterstaskdoesnotstopatsuppressingafire,butalsowearingandcarrying
heavyequipmenttoandfromemergencyscenes,rescuingpeopleandassistingtheirweight,
andrunningupanddownstairs.Afirehosealoneproduces36.24to50.35kgofforce,which

isonlyafractionofthetotalnecessarytooccupyandcompletestrenuoustaskswith
additionalweight(Marcosetal.,2011).
Theaimofthestudyistocomparethedifferencesinfitnesslevelsbetweenfirefighters
andactivemen,bymeasuringVO2max,muscularstrength,muscularendurance,andbody
fatpercentage.ItwashypothesizedthatfirefighterswillhaveahigherVO2max,lowerbodyfat
percentages,generateanincreaseinmuscleforce,andhavegreatermuscleendurancethan
therecreationallyactivemales.

METHODS
Subjects
Thisstudyincludedactivemen(n=5),whoreportedengaginginintenseexerciseforat
leastthreehoursaweekforthelastyear,andactivedutymalefirefighters(n=5).Themean
agewas20.202.05yearsforthenonfirefightersand25.401.52yearsforthefirefighters.
Themeanweightfornonfirefighterswas171.0021.61lbsand175.0023.45lbsfor
firefighters.Themeanheightofnonfirefighterswas70.202.17inand69.802.17infor
firefighters.Allsubjectsreportedbeinghealthywithnoinjuriesandprovidedinformed
consentbeforeparticipating.Subjectswereallowedtowithdrawfromthestudyatanytime.

Protocol
Bodyfatpercentage,VO2max,musclestrengthandmuscleenduranceweretestedin
allsubjects.Allfourtestswereperformedonthesameday,withadequaterestperiodsin
betweeneachofthetests.
Polarheartratemonitorswereusedtomeasurepreexerciseandpostexerciseheart
rate.SubjectsworeheartmonitorsforthedurationofVO2maxtest.Afterpreexerciseheart

ratewastaken,skinfoldcalipersweremeasuredatthreesites(chest,abdomen,thigh)to
measurebodyfatpercentage.Measurementsweretakentwiceateachsitebythesame
researchertoensurereliability.ThesevalueswereinputtedintotheJacksonandPollocksum
ofthreeequationtocalculatebodyfatpercentage.
TheCooperruntestwasusedtoassessVO2max.Beforeperformingthetest,
subjectswalkedonewarmuplaparoundthetrack.Oncewarmedup,subjectsran6laps(1.5
miles)aroundarubbertrackatmaximaleffort.Totaltimeforcompletionandpostheartrate
wererecordedimmediatelyafter.
Isokineticdynamometrywasusedtoassesspeakmuscleforce.Onesetoffive
repetitionsperlegofmaximalkneeextensionandkneeflexionwereperformedontheBiodex
machinewitharestperiodof40secondsbetweenrepetitionstoassessmusclestrength.
Eachsubjectwasgivenonetotwosubmaximaltrialrepetitionsbeforeeachset.Thepeak
forceforbothkneeflexionandextensionwererecordedforallsubjects.
Apushuptestwasusedtoassessmuscularendurance.Subjectsperformedpushups
untilfatiguetodeterminemuscularenduranceoftheupperbody.Onlyupperbodymuscular
endurancewasassessedbecausefirefightersneedtohaveastrongupperbodymusculature
duetothephysicaldemandsofthejob.

DataAnalysis
AlldatawasinputtedinSPSSpredictiveanalyticssoftwarebyusingtheindependent
ttestmethod.Thisprovidedmean,standarddeviation,andPvaluesforalldatasets.

Results
VO2Max
VO2maxwasassessedbycalculatingtheruntimeofa1.5milerun.Themeanrun
timefornonfirefighterswas11.121.19minutes.Thefirefightershadasignificantlyfaster
runtimeof9.340.42minutes(p<0.05)whichresultedinsignificantlydifferentVO2max
measurementsbetweenthetwogroups.ThemeanVO2maxofthenonfirefightergroupwas
47.45.5ml/kg/min,whilethefirefightershadameanof55.42.2ml/kg/min.Firefighters
hadasignificantlyhigherVO2maxthanthenonfirefighters(p<0.05).

BodyFatPercentage
Meanbodyfatpercentageswerethesameforbothgroups.
Nonfirefightershadameanof11.728.1percentandfirefightershadameanof11.722.4
percent.Standarddeviationswerehigheramongthenonfirefighters(seetable1).

MuscleForce
ThemeanpeaktorqueofKEfornonfirefighterswas205.9243.3ft/lbswhilethe
meanpeaktorqueforthefirefighterswas218.8664.4ft/lbs.ThemeanpeaktorqueofKF
fornonfirefighterswas106.849.4ft/lbs,whilemeanpeaktorqueforthefirefighterswas
137.2030.1ft/lbs.FirefightershadaslightlyhighertorqueforbothKEandKF,thoughitwas
notasignificantdifference(p>0.05).
PushUps
Thenonfirefighterscompletedameanof64.610.5pushupsandthefirefighters
completedameanof85.618.2pushups.Firefighterswereabletocompletemorepushups
thanthenonfirefighters,thoughitwasnotasignificantdifference(p>0.05).

Table1:MeansandStandardDeviationsofbothgroups

Group

Mean

SD

Pvalue

Age(years)

FF
NonFF

25.40*
20.20*

1.52
2.05

0.002

Height(inches)

FF
NonFF

69.80
70.20

2.17
2.17

0.778

Weight(lbs)

FF
NonFF

175.00
171.00

23.45
21.61

0.786

RunTime(minutes)

FF
NonFF

9.340*
11.124*

0.42
1.19

0.013

VO2Max
(ml/kg/min)

FF
NonFF

55.40*
47.40*

2.19
5.51

0.017

HR(bpm)prerun

FF
NonFF

86.20
92.00

8.35
5.15

0.223

HR(bpm)postrun

FF
NonFF

189.00
185.60

8.80
13.24

0.645

BodyFat%

FF
NonFF

11.720
11.720

2.44
8.15

1.000

KEPeakTorque
(ft/lbs)

FF
NonFF

218.860
205.920

64.37
43.29

0.719

KFPeakTorque
(ft/lbs)

FF
NonFF

137.200
106.840

30.06
9.38

0.063

PushUps

FF
NonFF

85.60
64.60

18.20
10.46

0.056

*SignificantDifference(p<0.05)

DISCUSSION

Theprimaryaimofthisstudywastocomparehowthephysicalfitnesslevelsof

firefighterscomparedtorecreationallyactivemales.Previousresearchhasshownthat
firefightersneedtobeabletobephysicallyfitandreadytorespondtoemergencysituations.

Sothmannetal(1992)performedastudytodemonstratetheVO2offirefightersduringactual
emergencyanditshowedthatonaveragefirefightersareworkingat6314%oftheir
VO2maxand886%oftheirmaxheartratefor157minutes.HavingahighVO2max,
preferablyabove42ml/kg/min,wouldassureanadequatereservecapacitytomeet
unexpectedmetabolicdemands(Sothmannetal,1992).Wehypothesizedthatthefirefighters
wouldhaveahigherVO2max,generategreatermuscleforce,haveincreasedmuscle
endurance,andhavealowerbodyfatpercentage.
FirefightershadanaverageVO2maxof55.402.19ml/kg/min,whichwas
significantlyhigherthantheactivemales47.405.51ml/kg/min.Notonlydidthefirefighters
ofthecurrentstudyexceedaVO2of42ml/kg/min,theyexhibitedahigherVO2max
comparedtofirefightersofSothmannetal(2009)study,thoughthismaybeduetothe
procedure.Therigoroustrainingthatfirefightersmustundergocanexplainwhytheyexhibited
ahigherVO2maxthantheaveragefitmale.VO2maxislimitedbytheheartsabilitytodeliver
oxygentoexercisingmuscles(Bassett&Howley,2000).TheincreaseinVO2maxwith
trainingisprimarilyduetoanincreaseinmaximumcardiacoutput(Bassett&Howley,2000).
Iftheheartisabletopumpmorebloodthroughoutthebody,themusclesareabletoreceive
moreoxygenandthebodycanworkathigherintensities,thereforeincreasingVO2max
(Astorino,2014).
Ourstudydemonstratedthatlowerbodymuscularforce,peaktorqueofKEandKF,
wasnotsignificantlydifferentbetweenthetwogroups.Theupperbodymuscularendurance
testofpushupstoexhaustionapproachedsignificance(pvalueof0.056).Theseresultsare
inaccordwithanotherstudyperformedbySheaffetal(2009)wholookedattherelative
importanceofphysiologicalcharacteristicsoffirefightersduringtheCandidatePhysicalAbility
Test(CPAT).Theirfindingsshowthatlowerbodystrengthwasnotsignificantlydifferent

betweensuccessfulandunsuccessfulCPATperformers,howeverupperbodymuscular
strengthwassignificant(Sheaffetal,2009).Thesubmaximalintensityoffirefightersfoundin
theSothmannetalstudyindicatesthatthemuscularforceofthefirefightersisnotas
importantastheenduranceinwhichtheyareabletomaintain.Itisvitalforthefirefightersto
beabletomaintainmuscleforceforlongerdurationsbecauseinemergencysituationsitis
unknownhowlongtheywillbeworking.
Theexpectationofthefirefightershavingalowerbodyfatpercentagewasbasedon
predictingthatthefirefighterswouldbemorephysicallyfit.Thiswasnotthecaseasboth
groupshadameanbodyfatof11.72%.Thestandarddeviationhowevershowsthatthe
nonfirefightergrouphadmorevariability(SDof8.15)comparedtothefirefighters(SDof
2.44).Thismeansthatamajorityofthefirefighterswereclosertothemean.The
nonfirefightergroupshowedinconsistentdataasthelowestnonFFhadaBF%of5.3%while
thehighestrecordedwas25.4%.Bothgroupsdemonstratedleanindividualswhichmakes
sensesincethenonfirefightergroupconsistedofactivemaleswhoengagedinexercise
everyweek.BF%isanimportantindicatorofhealthriskbutdoesnothaveasignificanteffect
onperformance.
Thereweresomelimitationstothislab,onebeingthattheuseoftheCooperruntest
equationisonlyapredictionofsubjectsVO2maxratherthanatruemeasurementandmay
differentiatebyapproximately10%asopposedtoothermethodsofdeterminingVO2max.But
inourstudythedifferenceinVO2maxbetweenthetwogroupswasstillsignificant.The
resultsalsowouldhavebeendifferentifwehadcomparedfirefighterstosedentary
individuals.Thestudyonlyincludedmalesubjects,sotheseresultscannotbeappliedto
women.Thestudyonlyincluded10subjects.Thedatamayhavebeenmorevalidifmore
subjectshadbeenused.Anycontrastingdatamaybeduetodifferencesinfitnesslevel,

modeofexercise,and/ordiet.Someindividualsmaynotbeaccustomedtorunningandmay
nothaveperformedaswellassomeonewithrunningexperience.Forfuturestudiesdatamay
bemorevalidifallsubjectswerethesamegender,fitnesslevel,andhadsimilardiets.
Ourfindingsshowthatcertainaspectsoffirefightersfitnesslevelaresuperiortothe
averagefitmaleandindicatethatincreasedtrainingisessentialforindividualspursuingthis
typeofcareer.

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